Archive By Section - Viewpoint
Goose is cooked
Waste not want not, our ancestors said, and they meant it. Those people knew about want. They knew what hunger meant. Not just that, "my, it will be nice to eat" hunger. They really experienced wondering where their next meal would come from. And for many of them, it came from the wild, or at least a good part of the protein did. Well, that is happening again, today, and in a strange way. It ...
Parking fines are out of hand
The top 15 parking ticket violators in our state capitol owe a total of more than $175,000 in unpaid tickets.
Long may it wave
"It's a grand old flag." "Hooray for the Red, White and Blue." "Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Our culture is littered with musical references to our national banner. As a people, we tend to take the symbol of our nation to heart, even if we don't always do it with the best taste. We are in the time of year ...
Just keep the talk open, please
The Kansas State Board of Education is goin' back to class during the summer vacation, but they're not dealing with the 3Rs, unless "responsibility" has taken the place of 'rithmatic. And maybe it should.
We'll take the money, even with the zombies
In 2009, when drivers in Austin, Texas saw the zombie warning signs, they were part of a computer hack, but soon when they are seen in Georgia they won't be a joke.
Trash can become as expensive as treasure
"One man's trash is another man's treasure" is an American proverb. You can search and search and not find, definitively, who said it. But its truth is deep in the heart of our culture. Whether we are considering garage sales and flea markets, or Manifest Destiny, the proverb expresses a central truth in the American psyche. "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Our culture, today, is incredibly interested in treasure. We are living through ...
Rural discrimination is real
There was a time when the rural aspect of society in our nation was cherished. From the times of Currier and Ives illustrations up to the elements of many "Twilight Zone" episodes, we saw a repeated theme that valued the clarity and simplicity of small-town life. That was then. This is now. And our culture, a much darker place than even Rod Serling could have imagined in his lifetime, has stopped romanticizing rural existence. If ...
We'll miss you, Matt
It didn't make all that big of a splash, but James Arness died Friday. He was 88 and it didn't come as a surprise. He'd not been in the best of health for some time. But whether you realize it or not, he will be missed. James Arness, of course, was Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" and impacted our formative years. He was a celebrity who could be looked up to. Not that he was perfect, ...
Enjoy free fishing this weekend
If you thought you might like to try your hand at fishing this year, but you just weren't sure ...
Blanchett blanches industry
When movie star, incredibly wealthy, so very important Cate Blanchett flies - and flies and flies and flies - all around the world for her career and the parties and the other perks that separate her and her chums from us ordinary working drays, she buys a ticket just like anyone else.
We are charged to keep the faith
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours ...
Kansas needs to get serious about DUI
Finally. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. At least it's a little step, a baby step, in the right direction. Kansas, now has a new law, as of July, that says you have to use special ignition equipment for anyone who drives drunk. According to the Associated Press report on this issue: "Kansas will require first-time drunken driving offenders to use ignition interlock devices on their vehicles, starting in July. ...
Turn off the tube and get a life
Face it. Any way you want to cut it, Wichita native Kirstie Alley is still a nice looking lady at 60. OK, she may have made some career wrong turns over the years since she co-starred in "Runaway" with Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons in 1984, or since she was on "Cheers." There was that Amish movie with Tim Allen and, OK, several others. Still, she has had an entertaining career and she should be ...
Our girls are not 'fair game'
America: Are your daughters and granddaughters worth protecting, or not? That is a decision that Americans need to make. Now. We live in a time when a major national discount store routinely stocks adult-style under garments for little girls. Really little girls. A national cosmetics firm is at work, developing a full range of cosmetics that are intended for the skin of 5-year-olds. And we are constantly seeing stories like the one the Associated Press ...
Just buckle up, for crying out loud
For crying out loud - just put on the stupid belt. Kansas is in the midst of its annual two-week push to get drivers to obey the law - and to stay alive or to avoid crippling injury in the process, as if that was too much to ask. This year's round of "Click It Or Ticket" began Monday and runs through June 5. Its the time when about 150 law enforcement agencies around the ...
Articles by Section - Viewpoint
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a founding principle of our country. Freedom of speech also comes with responsibility.
Cool/Not Cool
The Imagination Playground is coming to Great Bend and will make its public debut during June Jaunt. The portable playground is a set of oversized blocks, lightweight but sturdy enough to build with. They were designed by award-winning architect David Rockwell, who was inspired by watching his own children play.
Time to grow up
Challenges. All of us have them. And, it is easy to sit around and point fingers and blame others for our failures. It is easy to throw out exaggerated or incorrect information and hope people will listen and take up our cause because of the passion behind our words. It is easy to become caught up in distracting and destructive banter. It is easy to become a fool.
Trash talk
The senior class president of Heights High School in Wichita was suspended for the rest of the school year after posting a bit of trash talk about the school football team on Twitter.
Logical flood insurance rules finally passed
At long last, Congress, yes that gridlocked legislative body in D.C., has made changes to the National Flood Insurance Program. Astoundingly, the new rules actually make sense.
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